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Last edited Thu Sep 26, 2013, 07:55 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)
I got permission to post this from another DUer. It is NOT offensive, but I would not be surprised if some think it is. Let me say, do not insert names or personal thoughts, as IMHO, there are many people it applies to. Italics are mine, for emphasis.

And without further adieu:

Some advice:
As I'm sure you've all read, there are new changes to the jury system & how hidden threads will be handled in the future. If you aren't aware, there is a thread here, by Skinner: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10132863

Of note is the new rule that if you have 5 hidden posts in 90 days, you will be barred from posting until the oldest of the 5 posts "falls off" of your record after a period of 90 days.

I bring this up because previously, hidden threads only resulted in a member's transparency page being visible to other members, less chance of serving on a jury, and possibly being given a few-weeks-up-to-a-month time-out in a particular forum (as some of our friends here are aware).

However now, the price for hides is much greater. It will not just potentially get you a time-out from a forum/group, but it will ban you from DU for upwards of 90 days.

If I'm not making myself clear, I will state it outright:There is now an incentive to goad people to reply in a manner that will get their post hidden.

DO NOT TAKE THE BAIT THAT OTHERS ARE GOING TO THROW AT YOU IN HIGH-TENSION FORUMS/GROUPS

There are certain posters, whose names I do not need to mention but whom I feel we all know intimately, who are notorious for making posts that walk right up to that line between "appropriate" and "inappropriate" and yet their posts are never hidden. The responses to those posts are.

There are certain posters, whose names I do not need to mention but whom I feel we all know intimately, whose posts are never hidden, regardless how offensive, bigoted, hateful those posts may be.

We've all seen the jury results: "Well I've seen (insert group here) say mean things in the past so I'm going to let this slide," (insert group here) should grow a thicker skin," "(insert group here) people on DU are a minority so I'm going to let this stay,"etc etc.

Folks, don't fall for the tactics they now have an incentive to employ.

And make no mistakes, THEY WILL EMPLOY IT

Our voices have already been silenced by the loss of many great members. They left voluntarily or not, and the reasons are not as important as is the fact that their voices are gone.

Some suggestions, if I may:

- use ignore. If you haven't used it before, use it now, and use it generously.

- update your jury blacklist if you haven't. If you are limited by not being a star member, please remember that you can be a star member for as little as $1 for an entire year and greatly increase the number that you can place on your jury blacklist

- employ a "time out" before responding to posts: Wait 10 minutes before replying. Or don't reply at all. As you know, many members on this site seem to exist only to get a rise out of others. Don't feed the trolls and don't take their bait.

- Relinquish your need to "get the last word." We know that bigoted, anti-(insert group here) posts won't be hidden, or at least have a large chance of not being hidden. Don't make their jobs easy. Let their hate stand for all to see.

We all need each other in order for there to be a cohesive voice of rationality on this board. When one of us is silenced, either through banning, voluntary leaving, or banishment from a group/forum, all of our voices are diminished.

Please, realize what these changes mean and how they change the stakes of what were previously just "innocous" posts that resulted in a hide.

And If DQ can humbly add, the purpose of my post is not to "Whine about DU", it is a call for everyone to keep their heads and not let this place devolve into a mess. I do not envy the jobs of Skinnet et al, but if we want a place where cliques and thugs do not intimidate people, we have to hold certain impulses in check, and draw certain lines. Yes, it is political, because the same bullying, evasive technique, Gish Gallops, that prevent us from solving problems are right here. We can either cry about it, whine about it, or keep our heads, until the bullies and haters realize that their tricks have worn off. It eventually does happen; sonner or later, in politics, and in chat rooms, the people that have nothing to back themselves up but lies and intimidation lose, and then we surivvie, and keep on doing the work we do, the work that sustains everything that does not suck.

I can't understand why anyone who thinks of himself as a liberal would put up with DU. Surely there are alternatives. These people, who would scream "Censorship!" in any other venue, not only put up with being policed but actually approve of it as long as it's done to someone else.

BTW- HUffington Post has started "moderation" for all posts to their comment section. I thought it was just the Canadian version but it's also the American version.

Do these people not get that their "hate speech" declarations are coming back to bite them?

I can't understand why anyone who thinks of himself as a liberal would put up with DU. Surely there are alternatives. These people, who would scream "Censorship!" in any other venue, not only put up with being policed but actually approve of it as long as it's done to someone else.

BTW- HUffington Post has started "moderation" for all posts to their comment section. I thought it was just the Canadian version but it's also the American version.

Do these people not get that their "hate speech" declarations are coming back to bite them?

There are alternatives.

If you've had your posts hidden five times in the past ninety days, then perhaps that's not the right community to chat in. I'm not justifying things of course.

To me, a great alternative would be a place where you're not condemned for thinking differently. I know. I'm asking a lot.

DU Rule #122 - If the moderator feels that your post(s) have drifted too far into the "truth and reality" quadrant we reserve the right to hide or otherwise make your post unavailable. Please keep in mind that DU can not and will not tolerate truth and/or reality from seeping into our forum of liberal expression and activisim. Such conduct is tandemont to questioning Global Warming with facts which of course will not be tolerated at DU. You have all been warned.

DU Rule #122 - If the moderator feels that your post(s) have drifted too far into the "truth and reality" quadrant we reserve the right to hide or otherwise make your post unavailable. Please keep in mind that DU can not and will not tolerate truth and/or reality from seeping into our forum of liberal expression and activisim. Such conduct is tandemont to questioning Global Warming with facts which of course will not be tolerated at DU. You have all been warned.

Last edited Sat Aug 24, 2013, 08:13 PM USA/ET -Edit history (1)this evening. If they keep deleting me, I'm going to say a lot more than "poop". F' me, I hate censorship of free speech! Thank God for DU. Even if we disagree, we can voice our opinions!Reply